Prabhsimran Singh goes to KXIP for Rs 4.80 crore

RCB and KXIP enter the bidding war. The 17-year-old Punjab wicketkeeper has been a revaltion in junior cricket. But, a bid this big for an unknown teenager was a little unexpected. He hails from Patiala.

South Africa’s Anrich Nortje goes to KKR

....for a nominal fee of Rs 20 crore. The pacer has made rapid strides and even pace Dale Steyn was impressed with what he saw.

Shivam Ranjane and Pravin Dube go unsold

West Indies’ Sherfane Rutherford goes to Capitals for Rs 2 crore

Unknown entity but he has many suitors following his heroics from the IPL. This hard-hitting batsman can be a treat for the fans who loved big hits over the fence. The West Indian is all of 19 years-old.

7:40 pm: Hugh Emaedes and Co are back.

Dale Steyn attracts no bids and that will be tea time at the auctions.

Varun Chakravarthy goes to KXIP for Rs 8.40 crore

5:45 pm: Varun impressed in the TNPL and has CSK, Captials and KXIP making a beeline. The bid moves at a rapid pace and trundles its way to the finish line. The bid ends with a huge round of applause.

RCB get all-rounder Shivam Dube for Rs 5 crore

5:35 pm: Mumbai and RCB enter the race. Steadily, it becomes an expensive one with KXIP joining in. The Bangalore outfit are all smiles in the end. Isn’t it nice to see a happy Nehraji? Quite unexpected, this one. Congrats, Shivam.

5:30 pm: Sarfaraz Khan goes to KXIP for Rs 25 lakh.

5:29 pm: Arman Jaffer, who made a terrific comeback from a career-threatening injury recently and Akshdeep Nath are unsold.

5:28 pm: Anmolpreet Singh goes to Mumbai Indians for Rs 80 lakh.

5:25 pm: Devdutt Padikkal is sold to RCB for Rs 20 lakh. Manan Vohra and Sachin Baby are unsold.

5:04 pm: Australia’s Adam Zampa goes unsold. Bit of a surprise there. The leggie has a six-wicket haul in the IPL.

5:03 pm: Leg-spinner Rahul Sharma goes unsold.

CSK get Mohit Sharma for Rs 5 crore

Chennai and Mumbai enter the race but this time, the defending champions show more determination in Mohit Sharma, who will rejoin MS Dhoni and Co after a stint with KXIP.

Varun Aaron goes to Rajasthan Royals for Rs 2.20 crore

Delhi and Rajasthan start the bidding process but the latter’s aggressive approach pays off. More pace options for the inaugural champions of the IPL.

Shami goes to KXIP for Rs 4.80 crore

4:53 pm: Mike Hesson and Co exchange high-fives. CSK finally, FINALLY enter the fray after being spectators for the better part of the opening session. KXIP enter the race too. CSK rarely back out when they think a certain player is a good fit to their squad but they concede this time to KXIP.

Mumbai Indians retain Malinga for Rs 2 crore

Why not? The Sri Lankan has been doing well in the recent past and is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the IPL. He will be doing more than just mentoring the pacers for the upcoming season. Fancy seeing him opening the bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah?

Delhi Capitals get Ishant Sharma for Rs 1.10 crore

Capitals are all about keeping the Delhi flavour intact by snapping up homegrown talent. Ishant will meet fellow Delhi boys Dhawan and Pant.

Unadkat stays with Royals for Rs 8.40 crore

Rajasthan Royals and KXIP clash but the former are determined to hold on their player, who had a poor season in 2018. Will we see a revival of the left armer this year? This has been the most expensive bid so far.

Into the pacers now

Saha goes to SRH for Rs 1.20 crore

4:26 pm: The India wicketkeeper, who is fighting fitness at this time, will play for the 2016 champions once again.

Nicholas Pooran:

- Highest run-getter of T10 2018- Hit a six every four balls in T10 2018- Career T20 SR of 140-plus - Can keep wickets #IPLAuction

West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran goes to KXIP for Rs 4.20 crore

The flag is up in the KXIP camp again. RCB join in and show what Virat Kohli would call, intent. But it is KXIP who clinch the bid at the death.

Jonny Bairstow goes to SRH for Rs 2.20 crore

4:19 pm: Sunrisers Hyderabad open the bid before KXIP enter the fray (boy, don’t we miss Priety Zinta’s aggressive bidding). The 2014 finalists back out and Sunrisers have their man and Tom Moody wears a smile on his face. The Englishman will be making his IPL debut.

4:18 pm: Australia rookie Ben McDermott also goes unsold. He had set his base price at Rs 50 lakh.

Gurkeerat Singh Mann moves to RCB for Rs 50 lakh

4:09 pm: RCB are the only franchise in the fray and they get the Punjab batsman, who has played for India in the past.

4:07 pm: England pacer Chris Jordan goes unsold.

Carlos Brathwaite moves to KKR for Rs 5 crore

4:06 pm: Brathwaite finds a new franchise! Kolkata and KXIP are involved in the bidding war. There is some deliberation in the KKR camp after the bid reaches Rs 4.60. They don’t pull out and Brathwaite will play in Eden Gardens for the upcoming season. It was was in that arena that he made a name for himself at the international stage.

3:58 pm: No takers for England all-rounder Chris Woakes, who had not done himself any favours with a base price of Rs 2 crore.

Fun fact: Shimron Hetmeyer has hit the second-most sixes (49) in International cricket this year. Certainly a valuable addition to the RCB side.

3:56 pm: Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum goes unsold. His base price was also set a cool Rs 1.50 crore.

Shimron Hetymer goes to RCB for Rs 4.20 crore

3:54 pm: After his recent heroics, there was a lot of talk of Hetymer going for big money in the actions. Those predictions have come true now. KXIP and Rajasthan Royals were in the mix. Sunrisers enter the fray with a late bid. RCB show more desire in the end and Hetmyer is rewarded for his heroics that he executed in front of India captain Virat Kohli a month ago.

Hanuma Vihari goes to Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore

Delhi Capitals open the bid and Rajasthan Royals also come in the mix. In come Mumbai Indians to start a bidding war. Delhi were unrelenting and Mumbai finally gave up. Good days for Vihari, who impressed at the spicy Perth wicket for India.

3:30 pm: The auctions are underway. CoA member Diana Edulji with the opening keynote address.

3:26 pm: “The player availability is going to be a big factor,” says Venky Mysore. We think the West Indies and New Zealand players are going to be in demand.

3:24 pm: The auctions are ready to start any minute now. Meanwhile, for all the football fans who are here, Manchester United have sacked manager Jose Mourinho.

3:20 pm: “We were clear and confident of our strategy,” says Venky Mysore, CEO of KKR. “It was very gratifying to see the youngsters perform well.”

3:15 pm: “Have been planning over the last month or so. It will be interesting,” says KXIP coach Mike Hesson. “It was obvious that we were good at the death with AJ Tye. Strengthening the middle order is something that we are looking at.”

3:09 pm: “We were looking to add some experience in our camp. We have good young players, as Mohammad said. The opening slot was a problem for us and we are delighted to have Shikhar [Dhawan] on board.”

3:08 pm: “We felt Delhi Capitals was strong and powerful and resonated well with the city.” – More tidbits from the Delhi camp.

3:06 pm: “We have some good young players. Prithvi Shaw, Dhawan, Pant, Iyer our captain,” says former India player Mohammad Kaif, who is a part of the Delhi Capitals think-tank.

3.03 pm: Two uncapped Indian players who could transform their minimum base price to maximum output are Shivam Dube (Mumbai) and Varun Chakravarthy (Tamil Nadu).

Meanwhile, here’s a look at the most expensive Indian players in the auction today. (> Rs 50 lakh)

Players

Specialisation

Reserve price (In Rs lakh)

Jaydev Unadkat

BOWLER

150

Axar Patel

ALL-ROUNDER

100

Yuvraj Singh

ALL-ROUNDER

100

Wriddhiman Saha

WICKETKEEPER

100

Mohammad Shami

BOWLER

100

Naman Ojha

WICKETKEEPER

75

Ishant Sharma

BOWLER

75

2.59 pm:

Marquee players (Base price Rs 2 crore)

Corey Anderson

Sam Curran

Colin Ingram

Lasith Malinga

Shaun Marsh

Angelo Matthews

Brendon McCullum

D'Arcy Short

Chris Woakes

Eoin Morgan

2.54 pm: One big change for the auction this year, is a new auctioneer! Meet Mr. Hugh Edmeades...

2.47 pm: Couple of things we have heard from the telecast so far. First, we might not see Preity Zinta in the auction hall today, it seems. Which is a shame, because she is an entertainer for sure. KXIP will still be busiest team, no doubt.

There are also a few names that have been added to the list overnight. Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, is one of those.

2.41 pm: First things first, here’s what the teams are looking for today and how much money is left for each of them.

Who needs what in the auction

Franchises

Salary cap available

Indian Slots

Overseas Slots

CSK

8.40 cr

2

0

DD

25.50 cr

7

3

KXIP

36.20 cr

11

4

KKR

15.20 cr

7

5

MI

11.15 cr

6

1

RR

20.95cr

6

3

RCB

18.15 cr

8

2

SRH

9.70 cr

3

2

Total

145.25 cr

50

20

2.35 pm: Hello all and welcome to The Field’s live blog of the IPL 2019 player auction! For the second time in 2018, players go under the hammer for the Indian Premier League.

The venue is new with the Pink City hosting the event instead of Bangalore and so is the auctioneer, Hugh Edmeades, who replaces Richard Madley after 11 seasons.